1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to a method and apparatus for heating and spinning thermo-flow materials such as corn syrup solids, sucrose, polymeric materials and the like.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Various spinning machines have been designed for spinning molten materials, particularly sugar. The materials may be introduced to the spinning assembly in molten form or, alternatively, introduced in solid form and melted or subjected to flash flow just prior to being spun out from the spinning assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,821 discloses a spinning machine which is particularly designed for spinning cotton candy. The machine includes a spinner head having slotted, cylindrical walls and heating elements adjacent to each wall. Sugar in solid form is introduced into the spinner head and propelled against the heating elements where it is melted (i.e., undergoes flash flow transition) and caused to travel through a tortuous path. The molten sugar is spun out through the slots where it solidifies into the floss-like material known as cotton candy.
Various other machines have been designed over the years for spinning cotton candy. One such machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,043. This machine includes a helical resistance heating element positioned within a finely perforated shell. The heating element is supported against the inner wall of the shell by spacer elements. As the shell spins, molten sugar is extruded through the perforations. Similar machines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,073,262 and 3,070,045.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,443 discloses another type of spinning machine wherein the perforated shell through which sugar is extruded functions as the resistance element of the heating means.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,541,378 discloses a spinning machine including a heating ribbon positioned within a helically wound wire. The heating ribbon melts the sugar, which then passes through the interstices thereof and then between the coils of the helically wound wire.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 816,055 discloses a spinning machine including a pair of heating elements positioned on opposite sides of a perforated shell. The outer element is maintained at a low heat setting.
The art relating to spinning machines is generally directed to machines for making cotton candy. Sugar is introduced into a spinner head, and is ordinarily caused to travel through a rather tortuous path where it is converted to a molten state. The molten material is spun out of the head, and solidifies into a floss-like material. The material is then collected in a basin or basket surrounding the spinner head.
While much of the existing machinery probably performs satisfactorily for converting granular sugar into a floss-like material, it is not entirely satisfactory for spinning other materials which may have properties quite dissimilar to sugar, or which tend to be more adversely affected by heat than sugar. In recent years, it has been increasingly desirable to spin not only sugar and materials combined with sugar, but also non-saccharides.
One recently developed method of producing substances having pharmacological properties is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,326. This patent discloses combining sugar with a medicament and spinning the combination into a readily water-soluble floss or fiber. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,532, the disclosure concerns oleaginous substances such as vegetable oil, baby oil, margarine, lanolin, cocoa butter and the like, and how their lack of affinity for water is altered by mixing the oleaginous substance with sugar and melt-spinning the mixture in cotton candy spinning machines or the equivalent. As so modified, the products disperse in water forming a colloidal or pseudocolloidal dispersion.
Other disclosures which relate to spinning substances with one or more sugars are found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,085 issued Oct. 10, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 5,034,421 issued Jul. 23, 1991, U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,632 issued Jul. 2, 1991, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,856 issued Mar. 5, 1991. The products described in the above-mentioned patents and applications are all produced by processing in a cotton candy machine. Illustrative of a cotton candy machine is the Econo Floss Model 3017 manufactured by Gold Medal Products Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio. The process described in the above-identified disclosures involve the use of sugar(s) as a feedstock material which is spun to produce a material such as a floss, fiber, etc.
The use of non-saccharide polymers as biodegradable carriers for various active agents has recently been proposed. Such carriers are spun with the active agents to produce a solid capable of releasing the active agent over time within the body of a patient.
Conventional machinery may be unacceptable for spinning certain materials for a number of reasons other than the possible adverse effects of heat. If conductive materials are introduced into a spinning machine, an electrical short could occur between heating elements or a heating element and other metal parts of the machine such as the metal band which surrounds many conventional heating elements. Another possible drawback of conventional spinning machinery is that the morphology of the resulting product may not be the most desirable for its intended use. Conventional machinery also may not offer the user a choice in the size of the openings through which molten materials are caused to pass prior to being spun out from the spinner head. A need clearly exists for spinning machinery which provides the user with the ability to melt and spin many different types of materials without adversely affecting the properties thereof, produces materials of desired morphology, and offers adjustability in the dimensions of the openings through which materials are ejected from the spinner head.